Merrilee is an adventure of a girl. As she starts her first year at a prestigious private school, she navigates relationships with her two sisters, best friends, new friends, and boys. Boys who eerily feel straight out of the classics. Her life follows the twists and turns of a couple very familiar plot lines, but we sit on the edge of our seats to see if she makes her own choices and writes her own story. I believe that Tiffany Schmidt has written a book that appeals to so many of us who love our stories and create them into our own. She portrays a realistic, yet whimsical main character who has all the quirkiness and attributes of a teenage girl and a heroine. I feel like Merrilee’s daydreaming and thought process was so fun to follow and that she is a teenage girl who finds her tropes and learns to embrace them. You don’t have to be completely familiar with the allusions to Pride and Prejudice or Romeo and Juliet, but it makes it so much better if you are. Even though it might have been predicatible at times, this story was truly heartwarming. If you’re looking for a quick read and young adult romance, this is such a fun story to pick up.

I had a hard time with polish Boyfrends at first. Marilee, the main character, is 15 and acts like one. While I appreciated how believable the 15 year old POV was, I easily became annoyed with Merilee instead of sympathizing with her. However, the book did get a lot better for me at the 60% mark, and I started t quite enjoy the book. Unfortunately, the last 40% didn’t quite make up for all the problems I hadn’t at first.

3 Stars (full review to come)

A sweet story that combines well the angst and challenges of being a teenager who wants to find love, bookish-style, with the strength of women everywhere who learn to rise above their treatment as a lower-class gender.

This is a very sweet story about a girl who loves books and keeps comparing her life to some of her favourite novels. Romeo and Juliet and Pride and Prejudice make up Merri’s life in all kinds of fun ways. Merri is a great character who develops all kinds of interesting relationships as she takes on a new school, She grows with her friendships, familial relationships and of course romantic relationships, including a first love. I really liked that Merri felt she was living the different stories, that she must be Juliet or that her headmaster was Lady Catherine de Bourgh and that her English teacher is magic and behind it all. I loved that her best friend while being supportive, demanded they Merri cast the whole group as book character and when Merri couldn't, used this to prove her point that Merri was not living the book’s ( R&J and Pride and Prejudice) plot. I felt this book, while labelled Teen is more geared towards 13-15 year olds. They might not get the literary references but that’s what the writing felt like. It would be a great book to start the jump from 9-12 into Teen, but the audience would be girls who love books who would have at least heard about the classics.

Super cute and fun! I really enjoyed it. I liked all the characters, except one: Monroe. The others made me feel as though book boyfriends are truly attainable.

I would also like to see a sequel to follow-up on the two best characters.

This story was cute, but too juvenile for my taste. I experienced the strangeness of a story being both fast, as I was inundated with a vapid barrage of clipped moments for the first half of the book, and also slow at the same time to develop any substance.

This book is quirky and simply an easy read that touches on some serious issues that you could contemplate if you wanted to, but this story isn't really about that.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Bookish boyfriend's is a book for any starry eyed reader. Let's be honest at some point in time every reader has thought "boys(or girls) are better in books". Or found ourselves imagining what it would be like to be the other person in the book getting a relationship with said amazing character. Well this book brings it to life.
Merri gets to live her dream of book boyfriend's and finds out maybe we need to look deeper than just a first glance/dream idea.
I absolutely adored this book, the character, the references, and that it wasn't just cut and dry predictable. I sincerely hope the author gives us a glimpse into another characters story in the future!

Hey guys, I'm back with another great book called, Bookish Boyfriends. Now the first thing I noticed was the cover. I mean come on it's a masterpiece. The next thing I noticed was the title, Bookish Boyfriends. Who here hasn't fallen in love with a fictional character? I mean in my head I'm married to Edward from Twilight. Who wouldn't want to be in love with a vampire? But all readers must face the awful fact once they turn the last page that these guys are just fictional characters and we will never be with them. Heartbreaking I know.

In Bookish Boyfriends Merrilee finds herself in a new private school. Most would be terrified but not her. She's hoping to meet her prince charming and get head over heels in love.

I love how the Author Tiffany Schmidt includes the classics of Romeo and Juliet and Pride and Prejudice. Something we notice is on the cover.

Merrilee is so eager to fall in love that she doesn't notice that there's so many things wrong with their relationship. But with the help of her English teacher she realizes he's not the one for her. At first Merrilee believes that they are Romeo and Juliet in real life but she soon realizes that the story of Romeo and Juliet was a tragic one and not a happy ever after. Her teacher tells her that her story is no Romeo and Juliet but Pride and Prejudice.
I feel instantly in love with the main character. I could relate to her so much because I've always been a lover of books and anything bookish. My Instagram is full of bookish accounts. But I could also relate to wanting to find that special someone who makes me feel the same way as my favorite characters.
I give this book five stars.

I recommend this book to any lover of the classics and anyone who has ever fell in love with a character from a book.

I liked this book. I didn't at first. I found the characters somewhat annoying. But, as the story went on, I liked them more and more.
My favorite part of the book is the references to the classics. I'm always curious as a former English teacher about connecting today's readers with the classics. Novels like this one are one way to bridge the gaps.

Overall, it's a fun read. Great for upper middle school.

I received this book in exchange for my review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

There are so many wonderful things to love about this book. A main character that is smart, funny and likable, a great message, as well as swoon-worthy romance that doesn't make you blush. As a school librarian I am always looking for new stories that I can feel good about handing my students; I will be happy to recommend this to anyone looking for a beautiful, fun story!

I had a lot of fun with this. Tiffany has definitely worked out some good bookworm bait with this concept, but it was done well. Merrilee reads so many books and always swoons at her ‘book boyfriends’ so when she starts at a new (co-ed!) school, she’s in la la land. She’s a romantic at heart of course, but has never been kissed or had a boyfriend. So when she finds herself the object of a boy named Monroe’s quick obsession, she starts to realize that the perfect literary love story isn’t usually realistic. It gets wittier and cuter from there, so keep your eyes peeled and add it to your TBR! It’s also the planned first of a duology, so I’m happy I’ll get to read of Merrilee and her classmates again.

I'm going to be perfectly honest, I nearly didn't bother reading past the first chapter. I found Merrilee to be irritating and the kind of flighty us bookworms are always accused of being, her obsession with books I could handle, it was her boy-focused brain I found hard to accept. Her instant connection with Monroe was offputting and the rest of the character seemed so one dimensional that I almost stopped reading. I did carry on, however and I am so glad I did.
It took a few chapters but Merri grew less flighty, less annoying. Her sisters gained personalities and depth and the story really took off. There were a few moments where I was cringing at the tropes but on the whole it was really enjoyable. I loved how you could identify the characters with their own love stories (Rory picking up Little Women legitimately made me giggle out loud) but was still wondering how such a devoted reader as Merri had never come across Pride and Prejudice before.
Also the naming of characters was a bit much. Merrilee, Monroe, Fielding, Seraphina, Aurora? Isn't anyone named Jack anymore?
That said I enjoyed it and would recommend. Just get past the first few chapters.

This book was so perfect. I will be honest I was three chapters in and ready to quit given Merrilee's insistence on thinking Romeo and Juliet was a romantic story and her like of a boy who says 'love' as a term of endearment and is not British, but soon the book found it's rhythm. Nothing is as easy as it seems for middle child Merrilee as she starts a new prep school. She and her friends are full of fun as she tries to navigate a new school and search for her prince charming. Fielding could use a better name, and poor Toby and Eliza need actual plot lines, but I loved the sisters dynamic and Merrilee's intelligence and wit.

I love the premise of living out the story of a classic book, and I thought Ms. Schmidt executed it very well. I was a bit leery of the Romeo and Juliet story line, but then I fall into the category of that not being a favorite despite loving Shakespeare in general. However, as the story progressed, I was satisfied. And then came Pride and Prejudice, made even more perfect by the fact that Merri was reading it as she experienced it and so didn’t already know what to expect. So well done!

Maybe some readers would find it cheesy, but I thought there was just the right amount of magic in the story, leaving me wondering how much the characters themselves directed and how much was magic.

A delightful cast of characters surrounded Merri, but I especially enjoyed her two best friends and her struggle to balance them. On top of feeling torn between the two friends, there was the added tension of her boy best friend having feelings for her that she had to delicately rebuff. I liked the way it was handled on all fronts.

Just as Pride and Prejudice is about Elizabeth learning to see many people in her world differently, Merri has to realize her prejudices toward certain characters are either unwarranted or skewed. It was nice that the similarities weren’t just in the romance.

I loved how the romance developed, particularly since Merri starts out longing for a romance and learning she doesn’t necessarily want the sort of romance you read in a book.

This was sort of a retelling of Pride and Prejudice which is one of my favorite classics. I really enjoyed it. It was funny and cute.

I really enjoyed this book. I went into it expecting one thing and was given something totally different. I loved the cliched theme here with the book boyfriend's. It was very enjoyable.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I love a good classic retelling and "Pride and Prejudice" is a personal favourite novel of mine. But I just couldn't connect to the characters. They all felt a bit two dimensional, just serving their role in moving the story along. I especially couldn't warm up to Fielding, never really got past his dickishness in the beginning. That being said, I did enjoy the classic literature references so it was a fun read? I just won't be hurrying back to re-read this one.

DNF at 25%. Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. Too many adjectives and frankly a really ridiculous first kiss scene. I was boy crazy and book crazy in high school too but Merri is both of those things in bright flashing neon lights. It's too much. I'm also not a big fan of the writing style.

I loved this book, it was so cute and funny and it also features book boyfriends so what's not to love!
The main character Merrilee is an avid reader. She constantly has a book in hand and thinks 'boys are better in books.' (So relatable!)
Merrilee, her younger sister Rory and her best friend Eliza are about to start at 'Hero High' (I know right!! The school even has modern-day knights, I mean how could you not love this book!) where she meets a 'magic' English teacher and soon finds herself right in the middle of her own classic book adventure.
I would say this book is a retelling as it follows a certain classic novel but I won't say which as I don't want to spoil anything, even though the cover gives it away. (Just read the book! Trust me!)
Merrilee is a quirky character that you just can't help fall in love with. Slightly clumsy, huge romantic, wherever she goes hijinx ensue, which makes this book charmingly hilarious.
Eliza is the exact opposite to Merrilee and they balance each other perfectly and I truly loved their friendship. How they were constantly looking out for one another. I do wish there had been more about Eliza but as this is a 2 part series hopefully the next book will be about her.
At the same time I found Merrilee's younger sister Rory an interesting character and would like to hear her story as well. Tiffany please make this more than just a 2 part series! I need more on all the characters mentioned. Plus I wouldn't mind a story that redeems the 'villain' of this book, if that is even possible.
The main love interest is definitely one I will be adding to my bookish boyfriend list as I am sure anyone who reads this will do too.
4.5 stars!!